Hello Ernie... I am 50+ and just finished a High Pressure Pipe and TIG welding course. (8 months) We did not do any Stainless TIG and I wonder how much of a transition is it to go to stainless from carbon steel.? Also is stick (SMAW) stainless difficult? What about Duplex stainless , is it only for very experienced welders?
Regards Gary
Stainless welds easier, but you have to get into the whole backpurging world of strange widgets to keep the inside of your pipe pretty. Oh yes, and post weld passivation processes to remove stray iron particles from the surface of the welds.
Amperages decrease by 30% since stainless has a lower melting point and less conductivity than carbon steel.
Other than that not much different.
A tad tricky. Stainless electrodes tend to be a bit...runny. Flat is easy, but uphill and overhead can be a real pain.
There you get into the whole preheat, slow cool thing.
I think the pipeline welders on this group can answer you better than I. All the stainless pipe I weld is in food service or marine work.
304 or 316 is as fancy as I go.I have welded duplex stainless steels before, but heat treat was not necessary for the application. I believe it was 17-4.
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